Even after a road game and loss to the Philadelphia Eagles the night before, Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin returned to the DMV area on Nov. 15 to give back to the community who has been cheering him and the team on.
Alexandria City Public Schools Dr. Melanie Kay-Wyatt said McLaurin’s visit to Mount Vernon Community School was not only a moment to help others, but to teach important life lessons.
“For our students, it’s role models to say that ‘Once you grow up and you graduate from here as a Titan and become a part of this community, that you too can come back and give back,’” Kay-Wyatt told The Informer, emphasizing she hopes students understand the valuable lesson of caring for others. “That’s what we’re all about.”
McLaurin brought his community initiative known as “Terry’s Locker,” to the Alexandria, Virginia school, partnering with UnitedHealthcare to provide students with basic hygienic resources.
These resources included fully stocked laundry facilities, and many other essential products for hygienic care, in the locker.
“What a lot of people don’t know is some kids suffer from absences… because they don’t have clean clothes or access to clothes,” McLaurin said, emphasizing the need for the “Terry’s Locker” initiative.
At the Terry’s Locker official ribbon cutting, students and staff gathered for an assembly to unveil the installation of the wide receiver’s new contribution to the school community.
McLaurin shared that the primary focus of his initiative is to make it easier for the adults at home and school to help students achieve health and wellness goals in order to foster academic success.
“It’s just to be able to provide their parents, guardians, other teachers, and people who work in the building… the clean clothes they possibly may need, and other hygienic things, just so that they can come and be confident— be their best selves,” said McLaurin.
Mount Vernon Community School marks the third ‘Terry’s Locker’ installation with his lockers of love at McKinley Middle School in Washington, D.C. and Maymont Preschool in Richmond, Virginia.
“I definitely wouldn’t be able to do that without UnitedHealthcare my partner and just the amazing schools that I have been able to partner with in Richmond, in D.C., and now in Alexandria so it’s cool to see how this initiative is growing so quickly,” McLaurin said.
Dr. Kay-Wyatt emphasized how partnership can help move their community forward.
“Those partners really can help us identify the needs and provide resources to make their lives easier,” she said.
Giving back through “Terry’s Locker,” is part of the wide receiver’s goal of spreading positivity in the community.
“I’m just excited to continue to keep this going,” McLaurin said. “The best part is getting to meet the kids and talk to them, and you know it’s not about football, it’s just their kids and they love being here.”
For McLaurin, playing football is not just about the exposure and connections that being a professional athlete provides. It’s about using that platform to make a difference in the community ensuring that generations to come have the resources they need to succeed.
“Honestly I think I’ve always had a passion for giving back and being apart of a community and fortunately enough I’ve been able to live out my dream and have a platform to where it’s even more important to me to be able to give in any way that I can,” McLaurin continued. “It’s just resources, it’s my time, wisdom, and things of that nature. I just feel like I am blessed by the Lord to be able to have this position to do that, and so I take it extremely seriously.”
